House of the Hunted

February 20, 2012
Set in 1935, Mills’s genial suspense novel stars Tom Nash, a former SIS operative haunted by his past, particularly a tragic encounter involving his lover, Irina Bibikov, in Russia in 1919. Now a writer, Nash is enjoying a well-heeled expatriate life on the French Riviera, surrounded by a large supporting cast, including his longtime spymaster, Leonard Pike; Pike’s 20-something daughter and Nash’s goddaughter, Lucy; and White Russian émigrés Yevgeny and Fanya Martynov, who run a Paris art gallery. An unsuccessful attempt on Nash’s life jolts him out of this idyll, forcing him to resuscitate his spy skills and question the loyalty of those around him. The undercurrent of threat to Nash, coupled with the harbingers of the coming war in Europe, is at odds with the lovely foreground setting, as if Mills (Amagansett) can’t decide whether he’s writing a historical soap opera or a thriller. Pleasing prose and convincing period detail compensate only in part for a sluggish plot. Agent: Stephanie Cabot, the Gennert Agency.

March 15, 2012
A solid literary thriller from Mills. Petrograd, Russia, is a risky place to be in 1919. Thomas Nash is there on secret business for the British, and he kills a man before barely escaping execution by the Bolsheviks. His lover Irina, he hears, is executed in her attempt to leave the country with him. Sixteen years later, he lives quietly on the French coast, long out of the spy game. He sails, enjoys close friends and dotes on his beautiful goddaughter Lucy. All is well until his dog Hector disappears and an intruder attacks Tom in the middle of the night. Clearly this is not a robbery; someone wants Tom dead. But why, after all these years? The botched attempt on his life will not be the last, so he has to get to the bottom of this in a hurry. Plenty of twists and turns follow, including an especially well done car chase. The story turns back on itself to weave in colorful background--most of it necessary and entertaining, but some of it rather a drag on the pace one might expect from a thriller. Tom is an appealing hero: flawed, but decent at his core, a man who is tough only because he has to be. The supporting characters such as Lucy and her mother are well drawn and believable, while the villains' motivations might be a bit of a stretch. Yet the Leninist thuggery caused so many senseless deaths that plausible reasons for murder may not be necessary. All in all, the book paints a convincing picture of a man whose past returns to haunt him and who must face it while he keeps his wits and protects the people he loves. A lot of atmosphere complements the excitement, while the ending seems to suggest that a sequel might be in the works. Let's hope so.

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April 15, 2012
From Long Island in the 1950s through postwar Tuscany to wartime Malta, Mills' first three novels have all combined thriller elements with vivid evocations of historical settings. His latest effort, set on the Cote d'Azur in 1936, while containing an espionage element, will appeal more to mainstream historical-fiction readers. Tom Nash, a former British intelligence operative, is happily enjoying the party atmosphere of the French Riviera when his past resurfaces. Foiling a Soviet assassin out to settle scores but confident that others will follow, Nash attempts to draw his enemy out while continuing to live the life of an expat frolicking in the sun. The suspense angle is deployed effectively, but the real draw here is the detail-rich portrait of the idle rich, all desperately holding onto their hedonistic lifestyles while struggling to keep personal demons at bay. More suggestive of Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night than, say, Alan Furst's prewar thrillers, the novel captures exquisitely that melancholy era when the world was sliding toward another war and living well was ceasing to provide the best revenge.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)